Friday, March 14, 2008

I did it

I signed up for the ING Georgia FULL marathon. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! I'm super scurred. The farthest I've ran is 16 miles...and ughh...yeah. So give me encouraging thoughts. Tell me about other people who have ran a marathon undertrained...and just wish me well. I hope to come out without broken bones...and especially without a DNF. I know my time will be sloowwww...I hope I don't disappoint ya'll... I just want to FINISH! Then it is in to triathlon training for a while...and I'm sure I'll actually train for and run a full marathon next winter. If anyone has suggestions or wants to meet me for one..let me know! But for now....this girl will be resting and waiting.....for the 26.2. EEEEEEEEEK!

p.s. the savannah st patricks run was amazing...thats the only way I can put it.

p.p.s go here and bug Danielle to do this with me. She needs a lil push http://danielleruns.blogspot.com/

OK *********************************NEWSFLASH*********************************DANIELLE SIGNED UP!!! I will now be conquering this obstacle with one of my best friends in the whole wide world. We have been friends for like 10 years...and I can't wait to do this with her. This will for sure be one of the best weekends of my life....OH...and did I mention? Shes more undertrained than me...and slightly crazier. But this is a girl that ran her first 5k in 23 mins and took 3rd place. sooooo highly capable.

While I hadn't run far prior to deciding to run a marathon, I DID train my tush off for the full season leading up to the marathon. I'm only half crazy - well, maybe a bit more than half, because as it ended up, I was about 8 weeks pregnant for the marathon! If I can do THAT, you've got a great chance for success with a good base of running. You can do it!

You just couldn't resist could you?? It is really funny when I read your blog because I think you might actually be as obsessed with running and racing as I am.. and that is a little scary.

Ok, here is what you need to do. First, I think you need to take all your time expectations and throw them out the window. This is going to be your first experience with the marathon and we don't want The Duff to hate it and never do another marathon. Second, I want you to relax at the beginning and definitely NOT go out to fast. In fact, i want you to start out as slow as you can possibly make yourself. The last half of the marathon is brutal (especially for someone who's longest run is 16). That being said this can still be a really cool, rewarding experience if you pace it slow... and realize that you will almost certainly not run the whole 26.2. Plan on doing some walking and maybe even consider a run/ walk plan.

Good luck and I am confident that you will have a great time with this.:-)

A few years ago I was training with my friend Susan for the St. Louis marathon. I got injured about 10 weeks out, so she was on her own from there on out. Her training fell apart. I think her longest run was 15 miles (the last one I did with her).

I had doubts she would finish, but gave her all the encouragement I could and kept the doubts a secret.

That's great you guys signed up together. You'll do fine off that 16-mile-longest-run. I did an Ironman Tri on a bad knee where I didn't run more than 13 until the big day!! (and I only ran 13 once...)

Yay! Glad you signed up! Don't worry too much - as long as you don't go out too fast and you don't care what your finish time is, I think you will have a great time - especially since Danielle is going to be along too. Just remember to have fun!

Congrats on signing up for the marathon. That's always the hardest part, I think. In my opinion, I think it's way better to be undertrained than overtrained for a marathon, so I think you're right where you need to be. Congrats again. I'm sure you'll enjoy the experience.

Good luck. If you take it slow enough you will be fine. Make sure to get proper nutrition out on the course. For me I hit the wall and I hit it hard around mile 17 or 18 if I haven't taken in a few gus. Walk the water stops. Good luck.

Congratulations on signing up. I was completely undisciplined when I was training for mine and hadn't run more than 13 miles before signing up. I made sure that I ran a 14, 16, 18 and 20 miler in consecutive weekends leading up to 2 weeks before the race.

The best advice I got? Your marathon is a celebration of your hard work. It's your time to enjoy it and have fun.

Wow, so exciting! Don't worry -you'll do great. But I wanted to check... is that the ING Georgia that's on March 30? As in, two weeks away? You are crazy, girl!

P.S. Haven't replied to your comments on my blog b/c I'm embarrassed to say I haven't picked a marathon yet. When I checked in at the hotel yesterday, I found out that apparently word has gotten around the hotel staff that I request the workout room because I'm training for a marathon, so they asked me which one. Uh... duh... "New York," I said confidently. Gotta at least sound like I know what I'm doing!

Wow, so exciting! Don't worry -you'll do great. But I wanted to check... is that the ING Georgia that's on March 30? As in, two weeks away? You are crazy, girl!

P.S. Haven't replied to your comments on my blog b/c I'm embarrassed to say I haven't picked a marathon yet. When I checked in at the hotel yesterday, I found out that apparently word has gotten around the hotel staff that I request the workout room because I'm training for a marathon, so they asked me which one. Uh... duh... "New York," I said confidently. Gotta at least sound like I know what I'm doing!